Who are the Seventh-day Adventists?- (Doug Batchelor) AmazingFacts ©

is dealing with who are the seventh-day adventists now part of the reason we're doing this is this month marks the hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the name being chosen for this movement of seventh-day adventists and so I won't do it again for another hundred and fifty years but I thought I better take this opportunity to talk a little bit about who we are and what we believe you know there's a lot of misunderstandings out there and there may be people who are wondering you know I've heard of seventh-day adventists but don't know what they believe and so I thought wouldn't be appropriate to just take one message and say I'm gonna kind of go through a little overview of who are the seventh-day Adventist and it won't be a comprehensive presentation but I'll try and touch on some high points that I hope are relevant and I can appreciate people who might wonder who are seventh-day Adventist because I had no idea never even heard of them if I did I didn't know it until I was 17 a little bit of my own personal search for the truth I grew up going to really no church I was pretty much an agnostic and after going through the hippie scene in and out of jail I went to a variety of parochial parochial schools and I just pretty much didn't have much time for God I found the Lord while I was living in the mountain was in a cave I lived there for about a year and a half down in Palm Springs in the mountains and someone had left a Bible in the cave I read the Bible found the Lord accepted the Lord said well I guess I need to go to church now and so I began to visit some of the evangelical churches mostly Pentecostal churches I went to in the Palm Springs area and as I studied with Christians from a variety of different evangelical groups I quickly saw that while there were good people in all these different churches they did not agree with each other uncertain what I thought were some key teachings and I went back up to my cave and I prayed and I said Lord I really don't care what church you send me to but I just want the truth and so I said please show me the truth from your word well that's another whole story but after that prayer and after I continued to study I landed with the seventh-day Adventist Church but I could quickly see that God had people in many different churches but it could be confusing especially in the last couple of hundred years there are more fractions and divisions of Christianity than any other Church there's a virtual kaleidoscope of different denominations out there that you can pick from and sometimes a person will say so what is your church and I'll say well I'm a seventh-day Adventist let's say seventh-day Adventist are you the ones that don't believe in blood transfusions I said no that's not us 7th AMS is that is that like LDS I said no those are the Latter day Saints were the SDA not to be confused with the aog which is Assembly of God and all these other churches that you know a lot of people out there in the world they get confused and so I thought well let's take a moment and explain what is a seventh-day adventist well first of all in a word they are Bible Christians I like to simplify it people say well and you're an anthem what do they believe I say we believe the Bible no I know a lot of churches will say that but I think you'll see as we explore this we really take the Bible pretty seriously the seventh-day Adventist Church is a Bible based church and even some of the teachings that may not be convenient if it's what Jesus taught if it's in the Bible we believe it now I'm gonna give you some scriptures for those things as we move along through this you look at Matthew 24 verse 35 jesus said heaven and earth will pass away but my word will not pass away while the world changes and cultures change and governments change and political parties change God does not change the grass may wither and the seasons may change but the Word of God is eternal again second Timothy chapter 3 verse 16 and 17 all Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine for reproof for correction for instruction and righteousness that the man of God might be complete thoroughly equipped for every good work so we need all the scriptures matter of fact if you look in the baptismal vows of the seventh-day Adventist Church if you have any questions or doubts here's what it says we believe the Bible is God's inspired Word and that it constitutes the only rule of faith and practice for the Christian we believe both the old and new testaments compromise are comprised the Word of God now isn't that what we believe the name is a little unusual if I was to just have people vote around the world what's the best name for a Christian Church Church of Christ is a good name I feel simple easy to remember or the Church of God and there that's already taken and a lot of good names out there with the the churches some of them get a little confusing I won't name any of those but seventh-day Adventist doesn't exactly roll off the tongue and you might think that sounds strange why did you pick a name like that well really the name is key and integral to two very prominent teachings that we ascribe to namely we believe in the seventh-day Sabbath as opposed to many people who worship on the first day of the week we believe that 10 commandments have not changed and that the Lord has blessed the seventh day what we commonly call Saturday as the Sabbath so we meet on the same day that Jesus met on and the Jewish nation and many Bible Christians through history old and new Testament so that's where you get the word seventh from Adventist a person I like adventure adventure means the coming of some great adventure Advent means the coming of something so any Adventist Christian and they're our first state Adventist Christians any Adventist Christian is someone who is looking forward to the Advent or the imminent coming of Jesus and this is a movement that was born in the context of a people that were revived to the nearness of Christ's coming hence the name seventh-day adventists and by the way that's a picture there of the official Church logo it represents the open Bible because we are a Bible based Church the cross is central the preaching of Christ and him crucified is the center you've got a globe it's sort of an invisible globe but it's wrapped with three looks like the spirit symbol for the Father Son and Holy Spirit as well as the three angels message that encircle the world and then we are caught up to meet the Lord in the air so that's sort of what's behind the church loo logo there a little history about where seventh-day Adventist came from back in the early 1800s there was what they call the Second Great Awakening there's a great spiritual awakening principally among Protestants in North America and it was in a region from Kentucky up to Maine in the the Northeast it also sprang up during the time of an abolition movement more and more Christians were speaking out against slavery and there was a lot of sacrifice that was being made a lot of Prayer and there's a great revival that happened during that time also during that time as they returned to the study of the word it's very interesting people were really studying the word to understand where to stand on this important issue of slavery that was starting to divide the country they also started studying the prophecies and in the study of the prophecies a variety of Christians around North America indeed the world came to the conclusion that a principal prophecy in Daniel chapter 8 and part of it in Chapter 9 foretold that the Lord would come at the end of this 2300 year period it said after 2300 days then shall the sanctuary be cleansed and so they counted the time from the returning of the Jews to Jerusalem apply in a day for a year it ended up about 1843 or 1844 and this was a great Advent movement there's a revival that swept all across the country thousands of Christians from all backgrounds in Protestants Catholics there were Baptists Methodists Presbyterians episcopal cross the board believed the Lord was coming sometime around 1843 1844 and I don't think I'm shocking you to let you know he didn't come and that's referred to in history as the great disappointment now a number of Christians responded to that disappointment a variety of ways by the way you know there was the New Testament church was born in a great disappointment through misunderstanding prophecy the disciples thought that when the Messiah came he would kill all the Romans and make them a national Empire again and when Jesus didn't do that there was a great disappointment even after the resurrection the disciples said will you now at this time restore the kingdom and they misunderstood the nature of Christ's Kingdom well back here in the 1800s they misunderstood that prophecy that nowhere in the bible does that say the earth is the sanctuary and so the cleansing of the sanctuary didn't mean Jesus was coming so a number of Christians from different churches again Baptist Methodist Congregationalist Presbyterians they said look it is not God's will that his church be so fragmented jesus said all men will know you are my disciples by your love for one another but we shouldn't just unite so we can say we all love each other we should be united principally on the truth of his word let us set aside all of our preconceived denominational doctrines and creeds and let's study the Bible afresh to find out what is biblical Christianity and so they did that and in the process of doing that the doctrines that are foundational to the seventh-day Adventist Church were all right it's not like we invented them they're sort of rediscovered now there are always have been Christians that kept the seventh-day Sabbath matter of fact it was a seventh day Baptist named Rachel Oaks that introduced that to a sea captain who had been a Presbyterian named Joseph Bates who then presented it to James and Ellen White who of course were some of the founders of the seventh-day Adventist Church so it's not like we we didn't discover baptism by immersion even though a number of churches did not practice that when the Baptist studied it with this group they said it's biblical we're going with the Bible one by one they began to explore certain key teachings and that all coalesced into a movement that began to explode and grew into the Seventh day Adventist Church and so that's a little background about how that happened they weren't formally organized until they picked the name 1860 here we are 150 years later they are organized as a unofficial denomination in 1863 there were some resistance to doing that did you know that they said we don't want to just become another denomination this is a movement that is sweeping through many churches to get back to the Bible and they were afraid when they organized as a denomination that it would you know break that momentum that they had but it didn't seem to hurt it continued to grow and to spread the principal teachings of the seventh-day Adventist Church I'm going to give you some of the particulars look in your Bibles in Matthew chapter 9 Bible Christians we follow Jesus as our example go to verse 35 Matthew chapter 9 verse 35 now of course some of you know that I personally am connected with the amazing facts ministry and we also partner with weimar Institute it's amazing to me how often I meet people it happened again this week and people say well I watch your programs what church do you go to and if they're local I say well we're right across the street from Sac State we are the seventh-day Adventist Central Church central Seventh day Adventist I didn't know you were seventh-day Adventist and I said well you know I try not to brag about it but it depends on what programs you're watching you know it's not we don't talk about the Sabbath day every week and we believe the whole Bible but if we were to summarize what our mission is I like the mission of Jesus it's found in this verse Matthew 9 35 and Jesus went about all we should go everywhere he said go into all the world right the cities in the villages teaching in their synagogues preaching the gospel of the kingdom and healing every sickness and every disease among the people now that one verse tells that Jesus went to the people he went everywhere in the cities in the country healing preaching teaching and preaching are different aren't they but he did it all and so we've sort of taken this as our our mission statement at amazing facts and weimar we use it the word reap and our e8p Christ said the harvest is great well you got our er is restoration that's healing E is education a is adoration that's what happens in the context of a church in worship and P is Proclamation and so those are the the summary of what the Ministry of Jesus was all about and we sort of taken that as our marching orders because we think we think he's a good example don't we so we believe in serving our fellow man and the seventh-day Adventist wherever they go it's not just about theology and doctrine it's about living out the life of Christ and helping to share the good news by relieving the suffering of others jesus said in Matthew 25 in the judgment verse 35 and 36 for I was hungry and you gave me food I was thirsty and you gave me drink I was a stranger and you took me in I was naked and you clothed me I was sick and you visited me I was in prison and you came to me you know the seventh-day Adventist Church believes in helping the practical needs people just before we moved into our worship service we had our feeding ministry up here talking about how each week we're feeding people that are hungry and some of our sister churches here in town they're giving away clothing and of course you've heard of addre the Adventist around the world when there's a disaster they were in Haiti last week dealing with a cholera outbreak and of course after the earthquake and during the recent cyclone in in the Philippines and in Vietnam and just all around the world they're drilling wells and providing drinking water for people so part of being a Christian is not just preaching to people it's taking care of the real needs but I like that verse where he says I was hungry and you gave me food it's not just physical food I was hungry and you gave me the bread of life I was thirsty and you gave me drink not just water but the living water of truth that saves us all I was a stranger and you took me in people are separated from God we are a nation of priests we are to make out one man bring people back to God I was naked and you clothed me not only physical clothing but were to help them find the robe of Christ's righteousness amen I was sick and you visited me where to go to people and to bring them in contact with Jesus when they're sick with sin I was in prison people are bound by habits seventh-day Adventists have programs around the world to help people get a liberation from various addictions I was in prison and you came to me help set the captive free so this encompasses the work of Christ and what are the two great Commandments love the Lord with all your heart and mind soul and strength and love your neighbor and this is the essence of the cross it's dealing with this love relationship and to love each other the vertical and the horizontal and we take this as central to our mission as seventh-day Adventist well maybe I'll give you a few facts I talked a little bit about the healing part of our work all around the world seventh-day Adventists have hospitals matter of fact we have 171 hospitals and sanitarians around the world that are treating get this 14 million 997 107 somebody counted right down to the person people each year we believe in healing now these are some of the leading hospitals in the world I think most of us have heard of Loma Linda University and White Memorial Hospital and all over the world and countries around the planet there is a very important medical work and we're also a health conscious people maybe we'll say a little more about that but seventh-day Adventist Christians we believe by the way this woman here is 100 years old she was featured by National Geographic matter of fact the seventh-day Adventist Church was featured by National Geographic as one of the three groups in the world we were the only group in North America that they specifically studied for having the greatest longevity seventh-day Adventist Christians typically live 10 years longer than most of the population and part of that is because we take what the Bible says about not eating the foods inside net that it identifies as unclean seventh-day Adventists don't eat pork chops we don't eat the foods that you'll find even Jews call on kosher because the Bible says that they're unclean and not fit for humans to eat also we believe in exercise we rest every week when we keep the Sabbath and we believe in the social they think that it's partly because of worship and the social benefit there's actually health benefit in that don't drink we don't smoke and those things all prolong your life and there's biblical principles for all of that so we're people who believe our bodies of the temple of the Holy Spirit we don't just think that Christianity is a mental concoction of doctrines but it's something that affects every aspect of your life in your the physical the mental the spiritual you live it out all week long few more facts I don't want to just give you a let me a facts or I might I might put you to sleep membership of the seventh-day Adventist Church right around the turn of the century last century 1900 was 75,000 then about 55 years later there was a census and there was 1 million seventh-day Adventist today it's somewhere around 17 million and so we just praise the Lord for the exponential growth we've seen problem has populations growing like that too so we still have a big work to do in getting the message out to the world the countries where the seventh-day adventists are involved in mission work 203 so out of the 232 countries in the world seventh-day Adventists are working in 203 the countries were not in right now typically it's because they're not allowing Christian evangelism some of the Islamic countries have some stringent laws about that languages that are being used in our publication over 900 languages spoken by seventh-day Adventists but just in our publications 369 different languages the material is going out into all the world so when Jesus went to heaven he said go and share the gospel share the truth in all the world we took that message very seriously and we're doing it I'm just wondering how many of you have been to another country let me see your hands bless you heard did you find the seventh-day Adventist in that country that you were in you know it's really nice even though some of the customs are a little different everywhere that we've been in the world we find brothers and sisters in the Lord that have the same foundational truths that they believe now there might be a little difference and you know some of their favorite foods or we go to some countries before you go to church to take their shoes off and that's neat when you yeah you know sometimes we use chopsticks depends on where we go and so they're you know they're different everywhere and yet we're United in the Bible truths and it's a wonderful thing because we are to be one people we believe in as I mentioned education and the seventh-day Adventist Church not only has one of the most extensive medical works around the world we have one of the most extensive educational works I understand it's only second to the Roman Catholic Church seventh-day Adventist run schools in about a hundred and forty five countries there are seven thousand five ninety-seven preschools primary school secondary schools colleges universities medical schools and seminaries around the world that's a lot of schools that means I've got 66 thousand teachers glad it's not six hundred and sixty-six thousand teachers there are 1 million two hundred and fifty-seven thousand students right now enrolled in seventh-day Adventist schools and these schools believe in combining the teachings of God's truth along with physical health the moral the social training that everybody needs so we believe in education Jesus believed in education now we've been talking a little bit about some of the facts and figures of the church and giving you a a little context for some of the teachings but let me go into some of the particular teachings that help identify us and talk about them briefly just scientists summarize some of the high points first of all we believe in God now some people have different ideas of God I'm gonna read to you our statement we believe in that God is composed of one God who reveals himself he is three distinct persons one couple in a marriage you can have several people you become one God said let us make man in our image so God is comprised of the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit a unity of three Co eternal persons God is immortal he's all-powerful he's all-knowing above all and ever prison he is infinite beyond human comprehension yet known through his self revelation he has forever worthy of worship adoration and service by a whole creation so we believe in God we believe that Jesus is God the Son he is divine Jesus is not a created being the Bible says all things that were made were made by him for all things that are made to be made by him he must have always been there he didn't make himself right furthermore God is love and if you go back into the infinite recesses of the past before God ever made anything in order for God to be loved you must have someone to love does that make sense if God has always been loved then there must have always been at least two but I believe the Bible teaches God the Father Son and spirit are eternal without beginning what do we believe what if seventh-day Adventist believe about salvation Ephesians chapter 2 verse 8 and 9 for by grace you are saved through faith not of yourselves it is the gift of God not of works lest anyone should boast now I especially want to emphasize that because some people believe because seventh-day Adventist make it a point to remember the seventh-day Sabbath we must think that we're saved by keeping the Sabbath now maybe we'll get an audience shot I'm gonna I'm gonna venture where no man hath won before and I come down here you better all sit up and look real friendly because I just I want to get okay nobody gets to get new folks back here do we believe we're saved by works or do we believe we're saved by faith we're saved by faith do we keep the Sabbath to be saved or do we keep it because we love the Lord okay I just wanted you to get it from a multitude of witnesses alright now I may call on you again so say wait keep smiling I'll stand up straight you keep smiling okay so we believe that we're saved by grace here's the official statement we accept the death of Jesus Christ on Calvary as the atoning sacrifice for our sins and believe through faith in his shed blood we are saved from sin and it's penalty so it is through faith we are saved from sin seventh-day Adventists are people of course we do believe in the law and the Sabbath is part of that law but we're people to believe when you're saved God gives you a new heart he gives you the Holy Spirit and he can give you victory over your sins salvation is not just a big cover-up it's a transformation you become a new creature he delivers you he changes you you believe that that he gives you victory and so we are thankful for His grace we're thankful for his mercy but we also believe he can change us and make us new creatures so when it comes to the law in the Sabbath and I've kind of lumped these two together we believe that Christians should keep the Ten Commandments because they're of course the Ten Commandments I like to remind people they are not called the 10 recommendations or the 10 good ideas or the 10 great suggestions of God they're the commandments of God they're different distinct and unique from the ceremonial laws that you might find in the Bible God spoke them with his whole voice he wrote them with his own finger he put them on stone everything about the nature of the Ten Commandments he was being very explicit that this is my perfect concise will now most Christians and most churches have no problems with the other nine there's some churches have problems with the one about idolatry but most churches would you know will commute if you wanted to come and stand up and talk about honoring your parents respecting your spouse the sanctity of the marriage talking about not stealing or killing everyone it says it's right of course Christians should keep those things seventh-day Adventists believe we should be consistent and include the fourth commandment it's not that we're trying to make a bigger deal out of it than the other Commandments we just think if you're going to be a Bible Christian we should keep not only a Sabbath day God doesn't say remember a Sabbath day as though you use a lottery and pick your own it says remember the Sabbath day the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord there's no way he could be more clear and definitive about what day it is and so we believe God's told us that we're to keep the seventh day there's no question about what day that is that's what we commonly call Saturday today that's why most Christians celebrate Easter Sunday on the first day of the week because Jesus did rise the first day of the week but nowhere does he ever say that is to be the new Sabbath and so it's easy to show through history how gradually hundreds of years after Christ some of the churches began to try to compromise with the pagans to get more endorsement and they drifted away from the seven they Sabbath and began to embrace the first day Sabbath they were also trying to distance themselves from the Jews at the same time there's a lot of anti-semitism and so seventh-day Adventist said look before the Lord comes back we want to go by the Bible that's why we do what we do so we believe in keeping the Ten Commandments including the fourth by the way only one commandment begins with the word remember it's like the one commandment God knew we'd forget he says remember and so it doesn't make sense we should stand up in a church and say there's one commandment to forget it's the one that begins with the word remember does that make sense yeah I didn't really want to be a seventh-day Adventist I'm just being honest with you when I started studying and praying about the truth and I found out about seventh-day Adventists I thought boy I'm sort of gonna stand out if I go to church on this day and most are going to church on another day and the more I studied I thought well Lord you're asking me to follow you and your word if I'm gonna I want to go to heaven I want to be saved and I'm saved based on the teachings of the Bible so I may as well take it seriously or not fool with it right and so that's why I became a seventh-day Adventist Christian oh by the way Jesus said John 14 verse 15 if you love me keep my Commandments so we don't keep the Sabbath or any of the laws to be saved we keep the Sabbath the same reason every other Christian keeps any other Ten Commandments because we love the Lord and it's the right thing to do all right and by the way you can find the Ten Commandments in case you're wondering in Exodus chapter 20 verse 8 through 14 what about death no why am I reading that why would I say that well because many Christians have sort of are confused on the subject about death and it's not that we want to focus especially on that but some Christians believe that when you die that your spirit floats around some Christians believe that they can consult or talk to dead spirits of loved ones after they die and the Bible will teach us very clearly that when a person dies that their next conscious thought is the resurrection it's either the resurrection of the saved the dead in Christ rise first or the resurrection of the Damned or the the lost and that hasn't happened yet when a person dies they dream ace they have a dreamless sleep and a dream in anything matter of fact let me give you a verse on that you can read in Ecclesiastes 9 verse 5 and 6 for the living know that they'll die but the dead don't know anything and you read on there it says also their love their hatred their envy have now perished neither more will they have a share in anything that is done under the Sun when jesus told his disciples our friend Lazarus sleeps they say oh he's been sick sleep will be good he'll get better he said no Lazarus is dead and he had been dead for four days and how many of you know John chapter 11 Jesus raised Lazarus back to life after being dead for four days what was Lazarus comment on death I was up in heaven with the angel singing I was down in hell and you brought me back thank you very much did he make any comment at all I mean if that happened in our world someone really proven dead for four days buried already smell bad and there raised every news agency in the world would be there with a microphone am i right and what would be the first question they'd ask what was on the other side what did you see what did you experience do you know all the resurrections in the Bible Jesus raised several people there's some in the Old Testament several in the new the apostles were involved in resurrections there is never a single solitary comment from any of those people that are raised saying I was dead and here's what happened here's where I went it was a dreamless sleep they don't know anything Psalms 146 verse 3 said do not put your trust in Princes in whom there is no help when he dies his breath goes forth he returns to the earth and that day his thoughts perish it's not thinking because you think with your brain by the way would it be fair for the Lord to have people that are in Hell burning before the judge a day or two have in people in heaven rejoicing before they're judged or they're resurrected the great Judgment Day and the great resurrection have they already happened are they still in the future now tell you why this disbelief really troubles people have you all been to funerals before where they say our dear beloved brothers sister father mother there now with the Lord well they're not all wrong yeah stay with me if you're saved and you die what is your next conscious thought to be absent from the body present with the Lord next thing you know is the resurrection and a glorified body because you've left the dimension of time it's King David the Bible says died three thousand years ago by the time of the Apostles they're saying David is dead and buried and not ascended to heaven so we know King David good King David he'll be saved he's not in heaven yet and yet he'll be there but for David three thousand years ago says he slept with his fathers how long does it seem like for David his next thought is to be absent from the body is the resurrection in the presence of the Lord but they're not there yet because we all live in this dimension of time isn't that right and so the dead are sleeping and people struggle with that they say but I've always thought that they're up in heaven enjoying themselves well that's fine as far as they're concerned that'll be their next thought but they're not there yet so we've got to understand that why is this doctrine important in the last days the devil will exploit that misunderstanding among many Christians and he'll use it to communicate through spirits fallen Devils fallen angels to impersonate dead people if Christians don't know that the dead are asleep they then set themselves up to be deceived revelation calls on seducing spirits that will go out and perform miracles before the kings of the earth to deceive and so we've got to know they're asleep and so if you think there's a ghost well that's probably just the one the devil's demons or fallen angels it's trying to torment you but your loved ones are not haunting the house all but pastor Doug I'm just sensed that they're with me well you spend your whole life with somebody and you love them and you think about them you might have that sensation that they're near and you know the Lord may comfort you even with that but they're resting they don't know anything now this is not a doctrine that is unique to seventh-day Adventist a lot of Christians from a lot of different churches especially theologians know that this is what the Bible teaches it's just you know there are certain popular pet doctrines that Christians cling to even though they're not biblical I mean how many of us know that Jesus was not born December 25th does anyone want to abolish Christmas and giving away pretty presents you know we just sort of accept these things and tolerate them but this is a different kind of doctrine understanding that the dead or asleep it has very important ramifications in connection with that another distinctive teaching of the seventh-day Adventist Church you know in most most areas were like other Orthodox Christians so I'm highlighting just the differences you understand is regarding the punishment of the wicked now I probably ought to get down here again I don't know what you're gonna do you better be good so all right we're often accused by other churches they said seventh-day adventists they don't believe in Hellfire do we believe there's a lake of fire we believe that the wicked are gonna go to the lake of fire okay all of you give their anatomies your hands how many want to go mr. Wesley see if you're listening okay so we all agree together that there is Hellfire I wanted them to hear you say that because I hear people say oh you the guys don't believe in Hell see yes we do here's where our beliefs diverge we don't believe that hell burns forever and ever because that's what the Bible teaches let me give you some scriptures you can take the last book in the Old Testament I'd chapter 4 verse 1 for behold the day it's coming says the Lord that will burn like an oven and all the proud and all who do wickedly this is all the wicked be stubble the day that his coming will burn them up says the Lord Jesus said don't fear Him who can destroy your body but they can't hurt your soul rather fear him who will destroy soul and body in hell so God the Father he's going to destroy soul and body when the wicked are cast into the lake of fire every one is punished according to what they deserve and they're burnt up and it says this is the second death John 3:16 I mean everyone knows that you got two choices believe everlasting life don't believe perish isn't that what it says it's the devil who said to Eve you will not really die he'll either live forever in heaven or you'll live forever in hell you're immortal where does the Bible say that sinners are immortal there's no scripture that says you are immortal God will give us immortality when Jesus comes then this mortal puts on immortality 1st Corinthians chapter 15 so the Bible is really clear that Hell does not burn forever and ever I told you there are two differences because the dead are asleep and the judgment hasn't happened how many people are burning in Hell now none it's at the end of the world Jesus said the parable of the the wheat and the tares he said so will it be at the end of the world the Lord will gather out everything that offends and cast it into a furnace of fire it's at the end of the world that should really give you relief you know we all know people their salvation is questionable and they passed away what did it absolutely Drive you to distraction to think that all the while you're walking the earth those folks are being broiled and blistered and sulfur and that they will be through all eternity that's something that came from Greek mythology and it found its way into the church and it was a very convenient teaching because some church leaders realized they were able to manipulate the people with fear about this God that was going to torture people through endless ages now there are some scriptures that have a little difficulty there are a whole lot more scriptures that make it clear the wicked do not live forever they are burned up that they'll perish they'll be consumed in to smoke the consume away God says in the new earth no more pain is that what it says revelation 21 no more suffering there's no more pain no more death no more sinners then how can you immortalize sin and Satan and sinners it's gonna be purged from the universe there is a lake of fire and the wicked will be punished according to what they deserve and so that's sobering enough for me we don't need to make God a sadist and say he's torturing people through endless ages the Bible doesn't teach that so that's one of the distinctive differences and it's a biblical teaching again by the way there's a wonderful website I'd recommend that has a lot of scripture on this it's simply called hell truth calm that's real easy matter of fact pretty popular site you'd be surprised we need to get a site that says heaven truth but I don't know if anyone will go there every wants them to go to the hell truth website we also have a website we mentioned the subject of death a minute ago and if you want to see more scriptures on that it's called death truth calm death truth calm Studies presentation scriptures all showing the Bible support for these teachings I want to follow the Bible don't you I want to follow Jesus jesus is the word and so in following Christ and following the word we'll get there so we wanted to talk a little bit about that now there's another unique teaching and that's regarding the subject of the sanctuary we believe that Christ is our high priest the sanctuary and judgment now this is sort of a unique teaching but it's certainly biblical you see there are other Christians from other churches that understand death the way seventh-day adventists do that the dead are sleeping till the resurrection and there are plenty of Christians great theologians like John Stott even Martin Luther and others they understood the subject of death day there are others that understand the subject of Hell on the lake of fire but one thing that is a little unique about seventh-day Adventist is we believe that Christ is our high priest that he is interceding before the Father now in a heavenly temple that we are in the last phase of his priestly ministry in heaven on earth it was known as the Day of Atonement just before the end of the Jewish year the high priest would enter yom kippur the day of atonement there would be a time of judging the people at time where people would be putting away sin and preparing to meet their God so to speak Christ is our great high priest he's not in the earthly temple that was destroyed in 70 AD he has entered into the heavenly temple and you can read about this in a lot of verses but Hebrews 8 verse 1 and 2 now this is the main point of the things we're saying we have such a high priest who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens a minister of the sanctuary and of the true Tabernacle that the Lord erected and not man Jesus is our high priest and he's before the Father in heaven now one other thing most churches have ordinances and for the seventh-day Adventist Church the two primary sacred ordinances are what you would call baptism and the communion service or the Lord's Supper we practice those things a word quickly about baptism we follow what we believe is biblical baptism it's baptism by immersion like the Baptist's and many other Protestant churches we think that the symbol does make a difference we don't believe we're saved by baptism but baptism is as important to a Christian as a marriages to a wedding no as a wedding as to a marriage it's the ceremony by which we publicly say we've accepted the Lord we want to be part of this people and so we're baptized and of course there's verses on that mark chapter 16 16 jesus said he who believes and is baptized will be saved and in Matthew chapter 28 Jesus said go ye therefore teach in all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father Son and Holy Spirit so we baptize by immersion it doesn't have to be a river it might be a the baptistry it could be a river could be the ocean of the ideas to be immersed in water marriage cleanliness new breath new born again dead to the old ways alive to the new is all encompassed in that beautiful right that sacred Rite of baptism and then in the Lord's Supper some churches when they celebrate the Lord's Supper they use you know white bread and alcoholic wine and the Bible is very clear that the bread is to be unleavened and the grape juice should be unfermented you don't find the word grape juice in the Bible it's always called wine but Jesus made it pretty clear there in Matthew chapter 27 I believe where he said drink this speaking of the Lord's Supper for I will not drink it again until I drink it with you new in the father's kingdom new wine was unfermented it was just grape juice right out of the winepress so we celebrate the Lord's emblem we also primitive Baptists you've probably heard about they participate in what you call foot washing where Jesus at the Lord's Supper he washed the disciples feet and he said in John 13 if I your Lord and Master have washed your feet you ought to wash one another's feet and so when we do practice the communion service then we also with that the men break off with the men the ladies with the ladies sometimes couples will meet and we wash each other's feet and we pray for each other and it helps us to it's called the ordinance of humility we remember that event and so this is not I remember when I first heard about that I guess a number of churches there's even some Catholics to do that Protestants do it when I first heard about that I had never heard about Christians washing each other's feet and I'll confess to you that the first time or two I showed up at a communion service I made myself pretty scarce part of the reason is first few times I showed up you wouldn't want to wash my feet I was living up in a cave and so I thought it'd also be humiliating not only for me but for them too but so we we practice foot washing so this is just giving you a little overview now I want to get down here especially for this last question some people say seventh-day adventists I've heard about them they think they're the only ones going to heaven now do seventh-day Adventist believe that we are the only ones that will be safe do we believe there'll be people in heaven that went to Church on Sunday do we believe there'll be people in heaven that ate pork the breath won't be good but they'll be there just easy we believe there'll be people in heaven who maybe smoke cigarettes yeah so this idea that we're exclusive heard people say all seventh-day Evans you guys think you'll be the only ones there that's not true matter of fact one reason I became a seventh-day Adventist is because I got tired of studying with these different groups and they'd say unless you speak in tongues you don't have the Holy Spirit you can't be saved unless you're part of our church you're not one of the hundred and forty-four thousand you're lost and I said I've met so many lovely spiritual people in the wider body of Christ how can that be and then I read actually in the seventh-day Adventist teachings and it's in the book great controversy that the greatest part of Christ's true followers are still in the communion of other churches this is a movement now having said that does does it matter what church you belong to as we near the end of time it is going to matter more and more because the Bible tells us that there's going to be a very cohesive select group that will be pulling together in the last days especially under persecution that will have the seal of God 7 the Adventist believe and I hope whatever church you're in that you believe that your church is the right place to be I mean if if we don't believe this you'd be saying well you ought to go where you think you should be but we believe that we're all being called back to the Bible truth in the last days apostle says we should earnestly contend for the faith that was once delivered to the Saints and the seventh-day Adventist Church I believe God has called like modern Israel he's committed to this revival movement the Oracles of truth you know back in the days of Moses when that angel of judgment went through the land only those that were in the right house with the blood on the door were saved isn't that right when Joshua entered the promised land and blew his trumpets in Jericho there was only one house that was spared you had to be in rehabs house with that red rope hanging out the window a symbol of the blood of Christ that we are under the blood in the last days there's going to be a great battle between those who have the mark of the beast will be persecuting those who have the seal of God and we are going to want to be part of that group you know how it identifies that group in Revelation twice revelation 12 revelation 14 it says here are they that keep the commandments of God and they have the testimony of Jesus Christ here are those who keep the commandments of God and they have the faith of Jesus blessed are those revelation 22:14 who do His commandments that they might have a right to enter through the gates of the city and to eat from the tree of life it does matter doesn't it France Jesus said as it was in the days of Noah so will it be when the Son of man comes how many ways a escape were there in the days of Noah did Noah's son say look dad you build your ark will build our Ark everyone you build your own boat but God say everybody get together build one boat and we're all to be in that boat that boat really represents Christ we are to be in Christ the church is the body of Christ so especially in these last days God is calling these people together now having said that we won't get an audience shot right now in every church you got a lot of lovely people and we all know that there are sometimes in different churches people who maybe don't represent the truth we haven't you can't name a church denomination that doesn't have a few kooky people isn't that right do we all agree with that yeah and you want to be careful not to judge any denomination by you know there's a few scandalous people that are out there cuz the devil even placed a Judas in Jesus Church didn't he and so you might say oh I knew a seventh-day Adventist one time or whatever they weren't very nice well please don't judge the whole denomination based on one bad apple that's you man right I believe it's a wonderful Church I believe it's a Church of family and if you don't have a church you are more than welcome keep in mind the Bible tells us Jesus said in the last days John 10:16 other sheep I have that are not of this fold Christ said I've got other sheep but as we near the end of time it says them I must bring they will hear my voice and there will be how many one fold and one Shepherd God said jesus said all men will know you are my disciples by your love for one another before jesus ascended to heaven they were arguing among themselves the devil has always tried to divide the church by the denominations of fragmenting and arguing Christ is going to pour out his spirit in the last days and his people are going to pull together and they're gonna pull together based on the word and there will be one fold and one Shepherd when Jesus comes back there'll be the truth and then there'll be the counterfeit seal of God mark of the beast and that's why I thought this message was so important now we all might be part of God's family in these last days by the way now you're gonna get angry at me Jesus was a seventh-day Adventist we're gonna be just read it to you from his own lips here says as his custom was he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and he taught the scriptures Jesus said Luke 6 5 the Son of Man is Lord also of the Sabbath did Jesus was he an Adventist you know he says four times in Revelation behold I come quickly behold I come quickly he believed in the imminence of his coming and so we're in good company and friends whoever you are we got visitors here we have some were watching we just wanted to give you a quick overview of who the seventh-day Adventists are we believe the Bible and we trust in Jesus amen tell you what why don't we go ahead and let's turn to our closing hymn 348 their church has one foundation I thought that would be appropriate and let's stand and sing from our hearts

Channel: 11:11 Ministries

Views: 24,180

Rating: 4.6799998 out of 5

Keywords: doug, batchelor, seventh-day, adventist, ellen, white, religion, bible, jesus, sda, church, god, truth, second, coming, amazing, facts

Id: srKHVYnMy_M

Length: 53min 19sec (3199 seconds)

Published: Tue Sep 05 2017